The present invention refers to a bumper module according to the preamble of claim 1 and a method of producing a bumper module.
Usually headlight arrangements for motor vehicles are oriented and attached corresponding to their theoretically exact position at the front end support. The orientation of the headlight is carried out in a headlight adjustment facility during the pre-assembly of the front end module. Due to large deviations of the adjoining body construction components, such as for example the longitudinal beam, hood or fender, oftentimes an extensive post-adjustment of the headlights is required in order to realize the required orientation of the courses of gaps and joints. For this purpose, besides expensive headlight adjustment facilities, likewise expensive tolerance adjustment facilities are additionally utilized for final adjustment. Thus, the adjustment of the headlights is overall a relatively expensive step regarding cost and time input.
An exact, uniform and narrow gap und joint course contributes to a substantially larger part of the valuation of the motor vehicle when arranging the headlights, than their theoretically exact orientation. It is therefore advantageous to place the headlight into an opening of a single component such that the uniform joint course can be realized without problems.
In DE 196 15 026 A1, an attachment device for a headlight having a headlight housing is described, wherein the headlight housing is mounted by means of spring loaded catch-or clip elements in the marginal zone of an opening of an assembly component of a front end module. Such an assembly component may be for example a bumper covering. The head light housing is detachable from inside the engine cavity by means of the afore-stated catch-or clip elements. When changing the bulbs or exchanging the entire headlight, a sufficient space must be kept free, This space is not usable for the other assembly components, which is a disadvantage in view of the increasing trend to build more compact motor vehicles.
In EP 1 623 873 A1, a bumper of a motor vehicle is described, which includes a bumper covering, two support structures for headlights and a reinforcement which connects the two support structures for the headlights to each other. While this arrangement allows the headlight units to be placed into the support structure from above or from the front in a space saving manner, however, because this is a very rigid arrangement, after installation of the bumper module, various components will have to have their gap-and joint course adapted to the headlight, thereby requiring an additional adjustment step.
Thus, there is a continued demand for an attachment arrangement for headlights, which permits to install the headlights with a uniform and narrow gap-and joint course without additional need for adjustment and at the same time to realize an exchange of either the bulbs or the headlights itself in space saving manner and without any problems.
This object is solved by means of a bumper module which includes a bumper covering, at least one support structure open towards an upper direction for a headlight and a headlight installed into the support structure, wherein the support structure is integrated into the bumper covering in a trough-shaped manner, whereby the shape of the support structure is configured corresponding to the shape of the headlight and the headlight is mountable into the support structure form-fittingly with a uniform gap-and joint course; This object is further solved by a method for the production of a bumper module for a motor vehicle with a front end support, which includes a bumper covering at least one support structure for headlights and integrated headlights, wherein the bumper covering is first provided with a support structure for a headlight, wherein the support structure is adapted to the shape of the headlight such that the headlight is insertable with a uniform gap-and joint course, the headlights in which at least one support structure is inserted and thereafter the bumper module mounted with headlight is connected by means of a front end support into a front end module. Advantageous embodiments are reflected in the following paragraphs.